Do Gluten Mistakes = Miscarriage?

I was diagnosed with celiac disease in August after having two miscarriages - for me it was finally the answer to why i could not carry to term. I am now 13 weeks and things are going well, however this weekend i by mistake ingested gluten through cross contamination and had a terrible reaction. i am now panicked that it will affect the baby and cause damage or a miscarriage. does anyone know if the baby is harmed from gluten in small doses?

First congratulations on your pregnacy! I hope you don't have any problems with this one. I don't know how much gluten it takes to hurt the baby. I was told not to eat out and I really don't unless I know it is gluten-free for sure. But I am sure I have had some gluten it is almost impossiable not to. I am 31wks and the baby is doing great.

I would just be very careful especially in the beginning and talk to your doctors a lot.

It would not be a good idea to eat gluten on purpose while you are pregnant (or any time!) but I think that one accident should not cause much harm. I think (and this is only my opinion) infertility and miscarage happens when the villi are damaged and the body cannot absorb nutrients. Essentially, if there are not enough nutrients to support a baby then, infertility/miscarage will occur. Although it appears from your post that you have been gluten free for almost 1 year, so your villi would probably be back to normal by now. I personally don't think one mistake would cause enough villi damage to stop noticable nutrient absorption to cause a miscarage. However, I'm not a doctor and you should consult your doctor if you are concerned.

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Carrie Faith

Diagnosed with Celiac Disease in March 2004Postitive tTg Blood Test, December 2003Positive Biopsy, March 3, 2004

I too had two miscarriages prior to carrying my daughter. I was gluten-free only during the first trimester with her because I hadn't been officially dx, and I let my OB/GYN talk me out of the gluten-free diet because he thought it was "all in my head" and said going gluten-free was "bad for the baby"... HA! Anyway. I did manage to carry her almost to term. She was born pre term and I did have complications, but I was also consuming gluten daily. I think if you are being as diligent as you can be with your diet and your dr. is aware of celiac and the prior miscarriages, then as long as they are monitoring you closely, a few "accidents" shouldn't be enough to cause a miscarriage. Congrats on your pregnancy and heres hoping all goes well!

I remember being TERRIFIED when I "got gluten" early in my pregnancy. I suspect that the high number of miscarriages in my family is partially due to undiagnosed celiac disease. When I got sick in my first trimester I took a couple of days off of work and really focused on hydration and nutrition as well as sleeping to let my body heal as fast as it could. My doctor, who admits he doesn't know much about celiac disease, thinks that stress -physical, mental and emotional - is the worst thing for a baby in the womb. His theory is that modern societies pressures and pace make it harder to feel justified in slowing down and listening to your body.
As hard as it might be to try to "breathe through it", remember that you are doing the best you can do and that is what matters. Life happens - you were trying to avoid gluten and ended up sick anyway - and once it does we just have to pray and smile our way through to the next day.
Good luck to you. You will be in my thoughts!

My baby is now about 4 months old. I was told gluten ingestion or contact reactions would NOT affect the baby. HOwever, I know for a fact that everytime I had a reaction - I had about 6 during the pregnancy and I am careful - but everytime I had a reaction the baby "Freakedout" in the womb. For me, about 24 hrs after ingestion the baby would kick like crazy. Then the next day the baby barely moved at alll. Very scary. I had extra sonograms to check on the babies status.

Even now, if I ingest something bad for nursing, I pay for it with fussy bad day.

Be extremely careful to avoid gluten while pregnant, Learn your reaction, and count kicks. If you have problems, demand a sonogram to check the baby is ok.